Do y’all know about Marcia Brady dressers???? {That is my original term, my contribution to design..ha!} These reproduction french provincial (and I use that term loosely) dressers are abundant at yard sales and junk shops. They vary in quality, REALLY vary, believe me. You know the look, little girl bedroom circa 1970-1980, typically a white/ivory color dresser with gold specks and accents.
{great example, Drexel from eBay, mine is not this nice!}
A lovely french knock-off look. Sometimes sold with a canopy bed and matching bedside tables. My very own Marcia Brady dresser is the perfect size..long and skinny, lots of drawers, and I proudly painted it black about ten years ago. Wow that was a long time ago but those were my PAINTED BLACK years and its been in this bedroom since we moved into this house.
In fact, my husband likes to rib me about being quoted in a publication (maybe two) for saying “black adds an instant touch of elegance to a room” or something of that absurdity. Well the thing is, I am sort of over the painted black. Can’t believe I just said that. Don’t get me wrong, I love Camille’s cabinets and new kitchen sideboard and many of my clients have black cabinets and I. LOVE. But I no longer instantly salivate and think “paint it black” when I see a ratty piece of furniture. So I did it, my Marcia Brady dresser (which cost all of $50 secondhand) is no longer black..it’s blue. Not country blue I keep telling myself but frenchy, swedish, “robins egg” blue. It’s much darker and vibrant in real life..it looks very icy in these photos.
After several test quarts from Sherwin-Williams and even Martha’s new paint line at Home Depot, I landed on “blue ivy” at Wal-Mart..oh how I hate saying “WM” on my blog but its true.
{My little “Jackson Pollack” helping me paint the back!}
After a lot of work and false starts, I finally like the color. Even more so after rubbing shoe polish on it. My brilliant friend recommended this and I thought she was nuts, I’ve heard of using sandpaper, raw umber, furniture wax..but SHOE POLISH? She is the type that can cut and color her own hair and look like a million bucks. I’m not, but I tried it and it worked. Notice the section on the right which has been “waxed” in contrast to the brighter area on the left that I still need to age. I also need to sand more on the hardware, paint that gold lamp and more styling overall but overall, I do like the dresser much more now that it is blue.
I may paint the rest of the black pieces in my bedroom, a large armoire and bookcase..thinking gray. But some things will always look good black, because you know it really makes a room look so elegant! ha!
How about you? Do you have a Marcia Brady dresser?? What color did you paint yours?? How are you using your dresser?? They make great sideboards! Leave a link in the comments..we would all love to hear!
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39 Comments
Comment by Brook — May 3, 2010 @ 7:21 am
This is totally crazy, but I painted our Marcia Brady dresser purple…. Like Batman’s Joker- purple. Keegan is still in his purple phase and he wanted a purple dresser… so…. Thinking it might be better if I distressed it. He was happy and that’s what counts, right?!?
I love that blue. Honestly, I was only recently (within the last year) brave enough to start painting stuff black. Now white & blue are the new black. What’s a girl to do? I’m completely in love with warmer colors on walls- think The Nester’s Tobacco Road or BM’s Toasted Sesame Seed but am finding myself drawn more and more to cooler blue-grays, too. Why is it so hard to commit to color? I mean, one can always paint over it if one isn’t happy with it, right?!?
The wooden pieces on the top drawers…. what are those? Nice touch!
Great post, as usual!
Can’t wait to see the entire redo. You’re a genius!
Comment by Barbara — May 3, 2010 @ 8:21 am
OMG…me too, me too! Mine is in the basement, second-hand from my best friend’s daughter to mine, repainted white. It’s been terrific storage in the basement (dresser and hutch set) for quite some time now. You’ve inspired me, as always.
Comment by Katie — May 3, 2010 @ 8:26 am
Holly!!!!!! I’m DYING over here!!!! Marcia Brady dressers…..hahahahaha! You are SO RIGHT! That is what they are! Oh, mercy, I’m trying to recover…good laughs….
I have been on the hunt for one of these (though, till now, I didn’t have a name for them) to put in our master bedroom. My husband insisted on hanging a large -very large – plasma on the wall in there, and I have a smallish antique dresser underneath it. And since the TV is so much longer than the dresser, it looks like an elephant sitting on top of a piss ant. Pardon my language.
I need a long piece in there, and I could always use the drawer space.
So hard to get blues right. I am painting a TV armoire downstairs this week blue, and I was looking at Martha’s Milk Pail…but I am terrified it’s going to look too country, and that it will be screaming for some painted mauve hearts and ducks with itchy lace hot glued to it.
So glad you mentioned the shoe polish…never would have thought of that. I was thinking of using wax or stain. I’ll use shoe polish…did you use black or brown??
I do hope I can find my own Marcia Brady dresser…although when I get one, I will probably feel compelled to stand in front of it and do 100 brush strokes on my hair.
Comment by Holly — May 3, 2010 @ 8:32 am
Katie you are so funny! I thought the SAME THING about ducks and country blue…blue is scary..I think the key (and I dont know if I hit it but it is what I have learned i think) it go either toward a swedish blue gray look or a more turq/robins egg vibrant look! brown shoe polish in a little round tin not the bottle with foam brush (which i bought at first and though “this is not working”..duh!)
Comment by Christa — May 3, 2010 @ 11:13 am
I have one I dumpster dove for. (gasp the kids alway know what is about to happen when mom slams on the breaks ans throws the van in reverse;) I painted it a Burnt orange. It looks great in my kitchen with sag harbor grey walls and antiqued cadinetts. Pluss I have a lot of black and white/cream accents so it really adds some fun to a room that could look too stuffy:)
Comment by Amanda @ Serenity Now — May 3, 2010 @ 12:20 pm
Love the new design term you’ve coined, and I think it looks fabulous in WM blue. As much as I hate to admit it, WM has stepped up their game and you can find some cute stuff there these days!
Comment by Amy — May 3, 2010 @ 3:31 pm
Not too long ago I saw bedroom furniture on the side of the road that I salivated after it until I convinced my husband it was a ‘MUST HAVE’ especially for $100. Of course, it was a set of Marcia Brady furniture, as you call it, but what a perfect way to describe it b/c for weeks I have been describing it to everyone as the furniture all the girls WANTED to have in the 70′s early 80′s. Marcia Brady is much easier to say. Anyway, my husband and I repainted them white and spray painted the knobs black. It’s crisp, clean and magnificent. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get the drawers to smell that way.
Comment by LLH Designs — May 3, 2010 @ 8:19 pm
No Marcia Brady dressers here, but if I had one, it would definitely be a pale, Frenchy blue-grey. My go-to color is Wickham Grey with either a raw umber tinted glaze (shoe polish sounds like an awesome alternative!) or a white washed look on top. Never have been a “paint it black” girl. Scares me!
Love that you shared this transformation with us…and laughing at your new term!
xo,
Linsey
Comment by Jill — May 3, 2010 @ 8:20 pm
Hi Holly,
Love your dresser – just an fyi, for a great grey/bluish/tannish…I would recommend Martha Stewart’s Bershire Beige…really not a beige but more grey (or gray!
…I painted a secretary this color and it turned out great…for antiquing I use a chocolate glaze…
I too am SO over painted black furniture, but still seeing alot of it on the blogs!
I am a long-time reader but have never commented (I know, shame on me!). Your BH&G spread has been in my tear-out book since it was published!
xo~Jill
Comment by tamara — May 3, 2010 @ 8:26 pm
I have a dresser similar to this,that I painted white. It only has three tiers of drawers. I took the top and bottom drawers out. In the space where the top drawers were I keep my country living magazines and in place of the bottom drawers I have baskets that I keep vintage linens in. I use this dresser as a sofa “table” behind my sofa.
Comment by Tiffany — May 3, 2010 @ 11:37 pm
I had to laugh that you didn’t want to say WM on your blog! We don’t have one near us so I never go there. Over the weekend, while visiting my mom, we went there and wow – I was shocked by the fantastic prices. I got the CUTEST organic cotton dress for $12. $12!! And an organic cotton denim dress for my daughter for $6. All at WM. I was shocked and secretly can’t wait to go back!
Comment by Mary Catherine Sears — May 4, 2010 @ 7:08 am
Your Marcia Brady dresser is absolutely stunning! I can’t get over how great it looks. And, now I am totally motivated to paint my dresser!
Comment by Melisse — May 4, 2010 @ 8:00 am
I wanted one of these soooo bad in the 70s! (and brothers and sisters! hah! – I’m over that!) but my mom got me a matching bedroom set ALL SUNSHINE YELLOW, thus I despise yellow! I’ll have to find a photo to determine the style- The rest of the house was all Williamsburg, and beautiful, then I had this random yellow bedroom- I loved blue at the time- Kudos to the lady who painted the dresser Joker Purple! I’m still sleeping in my high school brass bed- upgraded to red linens from pink-
Comment by Angie — May 4, 2010 @ 9:22 am
WOW!! Talk about flashbacks!!?? I had the entire set growing up. I’m going to have to call my Mother and find out what happened to it.
Comment by kim — May 4, 2010 @ 11:38 am
Girl, you know that is Em’s bedroom suite! And I’m painting the dresser and nightstand either a similar blue or a funky green! I’m getting a chair upholstered and I’m waiting to see which color stands out the most! I love it – AND the painted hardware! I’ve been trying to figure out if I should paint or not – totally painting it after I saw yours!
Comment by Karen — May 4, 2010 @ 12:25 pm
I love the blue, it almost looks gray in the picture, but it looks perfectly aged. Great tip about the shoe wax. I confess, I love the black version you had painted earlier.
I had the complete Marcia Brady suite of furniture, including the canopy bed. I’m sorry I let my mom ditch it so many years ago.
Comment by Keely — May 4, 2010 @ 12:40 pm
oh my gosh, that would go perfectly in Toile Baby’s nursery! Love it!
Comment by The Nester — May 4, 2010 @ 3:04 pm
Yep i bought one just the other day and painted it white–wanna see it?
http://www.thenester.com/2010/04/furnish-your-home-second-hand.html
Comment by virginia — May 4, 2010 @ 3:17 pm
Oh my goodness!
This is my FIRST time here at your blog and I got such a kick out of reading about Marcia,Marcia,Marcia’s Dresser!
I went out looking for one just last year and I found one for FREE!
I loved the sectioned drawers it had, it was old but structurally sound, it didnt have any funky smells going on, and I could fit in my vehicle,…so I cheerfully carted it home!
I painted it as a gift for a 19 year old friend of mine and let her choose the colors.
She just wanted a Bright Pink.
I asked her to pick another color to go with Pink.
She picked Green.
(This was starting to look like a fun project.)
I told her we needed an “accent color”, so she chose Purple.
I smiled.
On the way out, we grabbed some Lavender paint for good measure
(I used those water-based craft paints and sealed it with a couple of coats of a water-based polyurethane)
I was so inspired by your blog that I just spent the morning making a photobucket account and posting some Before & After photos of the dresser at:
photobucket.com/justthreewishes
Comment by sarahwhite — May 4, 2010 @ 10:00 pm
I love it Holly! I recently picked up a little dresser like that and painted it Ben Moore Woodlawn Blue…in flat. Loved it, but quickly realized the flat wasn’t going to work out in my family…it showed every oily fingerprint that touched it. I paid $50 for it and then sold it for $129. I recently bought 2 more chests that I’m going to do the same thing to…only in an eggshell or semi-gloss. One will be blue and one will be more grey. I become obsessed with old chests and just buy, buy, buy. Now I need to paint, paint, paint and then possibly sell, sell, sell.
Comment by Mandy — May 5, 2010 @ 9:08 am
Oh this is horrible confession! That dresser, oh that dresser! It is so large and just didn’t quite fit anywhere in our home. After dragging that heavy solid wood thing back and forth from the house to the garage and then to the storage building, I tried so hard to find her a good home and since the drawers would no longer shut right I had no luck gettring someone to take her on. So it is with great shame that I must confess my husband hauled it off to the dump. I know I’m awful, but with an already packed home housing five children I cod no longer keep it.
Comment by Holly — May 5, 2010 @ 10:36 am
Mandy, Don’t feel bad.not everyone has room in their life for a marcia brady dresser..they come with their issues as you read above (1970s odors..yuck..i say leave outside and spray spray with CHEMICALS to defunk..yes HARSH chemicals;;) seriously, i was ready to pitch mine if the blue/grey did not turn out…and be assured that as soon as i have the funds and locate the perfect antique English dresser or chest with BIG knobs, MINE will be on the curb or elsewhere;;; but they have a time in the purpose for some of us;;
Comment by tinam — May 5, 2010 @ 11:46 am
Had a similar one growing up. When we moved in our first house we used it in a guest bedroom. Sold it and a few matching pieces before we moved into our second home.
tina
Comment by Beadboard UpCountry — May 6, 2010 @ 8:41 am
Hi Holl1
I have one! But is a more contemporary style not too Roccoco. It a Dresel Heritage and is now my buffet. It was the Europa style. The only thing is with those “better” brands painting the drawers, well they fit so well, it is a challenge…… It turned out great, as a matter of fact I blogged on it and someone wanted to buy it…..Yours looks great!!!!!Maryanne xo
Comment by Morning T — May 6, 2010 @ 3:34 pm
Hi Holly- I just had coffee with Linsey and she mentioned your fabulous blog and this post in particular. I love what you did with this and will have to try shoe polish on my next project. I did something similar with an outdated 70s buffet in my dining room a few months ago and I love it now!
T
Comment by Heidi — May 6, 2010 @ 6:45 pm
Love this! I have an ancient dresser that was left behind in a shed when my parents bought their old house 40 years ago. 20 years ago I painted it bright white and stenciled pink ribbons on the front (you remember that phase, right?) for my first apartment. My daughter had it in her room recently-but it just looked so sad. I just painted it a seaside-y blue, and bought glass knobs for it-it looks a bazillion times better. I must admit that I did toy with the black idea-but I’m glad I went blue too!
Comment by Robin — May 7, 2010 @ 6:28 pm
I just bought a dresser and bedside table at a garage sale two weeks ago for $40. I love it dressed in blue!
Comment by Karin — May 8, 2010 @ 9:05 am
Hi Holly, it’s Karin in Georgia.
Although you just switched this out from black, you should do a post on when and how to add black pieces to your decor. I love the look, but am afraid to do it in my way-too-traditional Southern home. I want to add a piece or two, but don’t know how/what pieces would mix in with the traditional furnishings best. You seem to be a master of this! Enlighten us.
Comment by tulip tilly — May 9, 2010 @ 7:41 pm
Holly, I bought this whole set just as you described, even the canopy bed for Kim when she was young. Got it at Sears, I have no idea what I ended up doing with it when she went to college. Thanks for the memory and BTW I still love black painted furniture
Comment by Lyns — May 11, 2010 @ 9:24 pm
Girlfriend…love it! it looks beautiful! you’ve been a busy little bee:)
Comment by Kim — May 13, 2010 @ 9:27 am
LOL I do not have a Marsha Brady dresser—-YET! OMGosh I love the paint color and the shoe polish distressing and now I WILL be in search of a Marsha! Marsha! Marsha! dresser!
Comment by SONJA — May 23, 2010 @ 5:30 pm
I would love to find “Marcia Brady” bedroom furniture that HASN’T been painted. My girls are sharing my set, & I’d love to add to it for them. If anyone knows of any pieces near Hutchinson, MN, please e-mail me ASAP! Thanks!
Comment by Melinda — June 7, 2010 @ 7:04 pm
My daughter now has my set…bed with canopy, 6 drawer dresser, desk. I repainted them all white and redid the gold with a gold/white paint. I also added white contact paper to the top since I tried to put a lacquer on it and it turned yellow. I just found another dresser and chest with a bookshelf on craigslist. Needs repainting and I need to find drawer pulls since the owner replaced the original leaf drawer pulls.
Comment by ClassiclyAmber — June 28, 2010 @ 4:51 am
So – I LOVE the blue!! It truly is fab! And I do love the shape of that dresser. Great job with the redo!
Comment by MelissaM — July 21, 2010 @ 9:46 am
Hello,
I just bought one set for $40 at a yard sale. I love the black actually but I was considering the blue/grey for the bedroom. It has a shiny laminate top. How do I paint it? I am afraid the paint will just scratch right off. Anyone have tips on how to paint this type of dresser? Oil or Latex paint etc… Thanks for any help!
Comment by Sixty Fifth Avenue — August 18, 2010 @ 10:27 am
It looks fabulous! Love the color.
So funny, I just posted about the same dresser that I redid.
Londen
Comment by Jill — September 22, 2010 @ 1:42 pm
I have the Marsha Brady desk. It was my moms – she had the whole set, and I wish we would have kept the dresser & chest. They would be very cute painted now.
My desk is in the upstairs – but it still is the awful off white/gold trim self. I think I’m going to try this icy blue at walmart. I’ve never painted any furniture before – so I’m scared, but ready for it!
Comment by mary — February 17, 2011 @ 5:03 pm
I have the desk if anyone is interested have had it since I was a kid, I am fifty three now..Marcia BRady style is appropriate..lol…Humboldt County asking 100.
Comment by Molly — February 25, 2011 @ 10:30 am
I have a similar dresser (Marsha Brady 70s dresser) – could you advise on how you painted it, or point me to some articles on how to paint something with a slick, shiny surface? I’ve wanted to paint it for years, but don’t know how to sand it – because the surface isn’t wood, it’s that fake, slick stuff. Thanks for any pointers.
Molly
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